December 1963 (Oh, What A Night)
A hit single by The Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group's 1975 album, Who Loves You. This single was released in December 1975 and hit number one on the UK Singles Chart on February 21, 1976. It repeated the feat on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on March 13, 1976, remaining in the top spot for three weeks and one week on Cash Box. On April 10 of the same year, it topped the RPM National Top Singles Chart in Canada. New drummer Gerry Polci and bassist Don Ciccone shared lead vocals with long-time frontman Frankie Valli.

You To Me Are Everything
The debut single by The Real Thing.
Written by Ken Gold and Michael Denne, "You to Me Are Everything" was The Real Thing's sole number-one single in the UK, spending three weeks at the top in July 1976. A remixed version of the song returned to the chart in March 1986 reaching number five. The song was a minor hit in the U.S. where it peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number 28 on the Billboard R&B chart. Part of the reason for its lack of success in the U.S. was the flood of cover versions of the song released at the same time. American groups Broadway and Revelation both released versions of the song the same week, and at one point all three versions of the song appeared on Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. With radio and the public unable to agree on a single popular version, the three singles effectively prevented each other from becoming a hit.

Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel
A disco song written by Freddie Perren and Keni St. Lewis. It was recorded by the New England band Tavares in 1976. The song was released as a single from the album Sky High! and was split into two parts. The first part was 3 minutes and 28 seconds in length, while the second part was 3 minutes and 10 seconds. The total length is over 6 minutes. "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1976. The song did even better in the UK where it made the top 10 peaking at #4.

Dancing On The Ceiling
Written by Mike Frenchik, Lionel Richie and Carlos Rios and performed by Richie on his 1986 album Dancing on the Ceiling. In the song Richie sings about a feeling, which is about a kind of joy and hence the title of Dancing on the Ceiling. The song reached the top spot on the Norwegian charts.

Easy
A 1977 hit single written by Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie, the song, a slow ballad with country and western roots, expresses a man's feelings as he ends a relationship. Rather than being depressed about the break-up, he states that he is instead "easy like Sunday morning." Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group, given the success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent 2 weeks at #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts in 1976. Released in March 1977, "Easy" reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart, and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.The success of "Easy" paved the way for similar Richie-composed hit ballads such as "Three Times a Lady", and "Still", and also for Richie's later solo hits.

You're The First, The Last, My Everything
A popular song recorded by Barry White. Written by White, Tony Sepe and Peter Radcliffe and produced by White, "You're the First, The Last, My Everything" was White's fourth top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching #2; it spent a week at #1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.The early disco class made it to number two on the disco/dance charts.In the UK it fared even better, spending two weeks at the top in December 1974. It appeared on White's 1974 album Can't Get Enough. Radcliffe originally wrote "You're the First, The Last, My Everything" as a country song with the title "You're My First, You're My Last, My In-Between", which went unrecorded for 21 years. White recorded it as a disco song, keeping most of the structure and two-thirds of the title, but he rewrote the lyrics.

It's Not Unusual
Written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. Jones recorded what was intended to be a demo for Shaw, but when she heard it she was so impressed with Jones' delivery that she declined the song and recommended that Jones release it himself. The record was the second Decca single Jones released, reaching number one in the UK charts in 1965. It was also the first hit for Jones in the US, peaking at #10 in May of that year. The single was released in the US on the Parrot label and also reached #3 on Billboard's easy listening chart. Jones used this song as the theme for his late 1960s-early 1970s musical variety series This Is Tom Jones. It has since become Jones' musical signature.

Blame It On The Boogie
A discosong, originally released in 1978 both by English singer-songwriterMick Jackson as well as (in its most famous version) by The Jacksons (no connection), and was later also covered by numerous other artists. Although Mick Jackson recorded the song in 1977 "Blame It on the Boogie" was written in hopes of being shopped to Stevie Wonder. The Mick Jackson track was showcased in 1978 at Midem where according to Mick Jackson: "The Jackson's manager [Peter Kerstin] heard the track being played...and took a tape recording of it...back to the States [where] The Jackson's quickly recorded a version so it would be out before mine." In fact the Mick Jackson recording was released by Atlantic Records in the US in August of 1978.

Saturday Night At The Movies
The Drifters are a long-lived American doo wop/R&B vocal group with a peak in popularity from 1953 to 1962, though several splinter Drifters continue to perform today. They were originally formed to serve as Clyde McPhatter's (of Billy Ward & the Dominoes) backing group in 1953. Rolling Stone magazine states that the Drifters were the least stable of the vocal groups due to being low-paid hired musicians of their management.The Treadwell Drifters website states that there have been 60 vocalists in the history of the Treadwell Drifters line.Several splinter groups by former Drifters members add to the count. Only one splinter Drifters group features a classic Drifters member, Charlie Thomas' Drifters.

Celebration
Released in 1980 by Kool & the Gang from their album Celebrate!. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on February 7, 1981 and held that position until February 20, 1981. Late in 1980, the song had also reached number one on both the Billboard Dance and R&B charts. The song dominated the radio for nearly the entire year, and is still heard today at weddings and parties.

MotownMotown and its soul-based subsidiaries were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as The Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.

Soul Music on Wikipedia
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying."

Blues & Soul Magazine
Published fortnightly Blues & Soul Online Magazine covers all the latest UK and US urban music info, including news, charts, reviews, events and clubs, as well as in-depth interviews and editorial on influential artists past and present.

"

"

Yep... That's right... Uh Huh... Sign up for the funky Motown lowdown on all things Soulful and Kingly!